Nacho Elvira will make his first major start at The 151st Open as he was joined by Kalle Samooja and Marc Warren in qualifying through their performances at the Made in HimmerLand.

Spaniard Elvira missed out on winning his second DP World Tour title in Denmark on Sunday as he lost in a playoff to the already exempt and home favourite Rasmus Højgaard.

Finn Samooja will also make his debut in golf’s oldest Major at Royal Liverpool, while Scot Marc Warren is returning to The Open for the first time since 2016 when it was held at Royal Troon.

“It’s a bit sour right now,” said Elvira after the play-off defeat in Farsø, “but it’s sweet knowing I’ll be playing my first major.

“I’ve played at Hoylake before and I loved it so I couldn’t be more happy.”

Elvira, who claimed his first DP World Tour in the Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale at Celtic Manor two years ago, lost out to Højgaard on the sixth play-off hole after both players finished tied for first place on 13 under par.

Provided a world-class playoff
? Shot 69/62/66/70
? Climbed 131 spots in the R2DR@nachoelvira87 appreciation tweet ??#MIH23 pic.twitter.com/rqdD03eSwP

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 9, 2023

Samooja shot 64-67 over the weekend to finish at 11 under as he was joined by Warren in a tie for fourth alongside the exempt Alexander Björk and Robert MacIntyre.

“It’s been one of my goals this year,” said the 2018 European Challenge Tour graduate.

“I’ve never played Hoylake before, but I’ve watched it on TV enough so I know quite a few holes.”

Warren, a four-time DP World Tour winner, returns to play in The Open for the first time since 2016 when it was held at Royal Troon.

The Scot, who finished tied 39th when it was last held at Royal Liverpool in 2014, said: “I’ve not had many great results recently, so to just pluck one out of the bag and take one of the last spots in The Open is an amazing achievement.

“Going out there today that was the main thing; it wasn’t even a finish, it was just trying to qualify for The Open.”

This week’s Genesis Scottish Open – the third Rolex Series event of the season – represents the final opportunity for players to book their place in the field as the Open Qualifying Series comes to an end.

The leading three players, not already exempt, who make the cut at the Renaissance Club will feature in the final Major of the year, from July 20-23.

The post Nacho Elvira, Kalle Samooja and Marc Warren qualify for the 151st Open through the Made In Himmerland appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
Starting only four days after the final round of the Masters, the Austrian Open likely won’t attract many of European golf’s biggest names. But news that the event—won last year by Scotland’s Marc Warren—will return to the European Tour, April 15-18, is a welcome boost for the currently beleaguered circuit. Late last week European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley was forced to announce the postponement of the Portugal Masters, as well as a reshuffling of next month’s schedule.

As things now stand, the €1 million Austrian event will fill the slot recently vacated by the Tenerife Open, which takes the place of the Portugal Masters (April 29-May 2), one week after the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have had to be agile with our scheduling, and today’s announcement is another example of that,” Pelley said in a press release. “We are naturally grateful to Diamond Country Club and the Austrian Golf Federation for once again helping us to continue to provide a full schedule and playing opportunities for our members. Diamond Country Club [located just outside Vienna and hosting the Austrian Open for the 11th consecutive year] is obviously a venue that we know very well, and we look forward to returning there next month.”

In the longer term, however, things are not looking quite so cheery for the Old World circuit. With a third wave of COVID-19 already sweeping the European continent, the future is at best uncertain with regard to travel. Right now, the tour is down to visit France immediately after Tenerife, England just before the PGA Championship, Denmark, Germany and Sweden before the U.S. Open, then Germany, Ireland and Scotland before the Open Championship in England. That’s a lot of countries and, unfortunately for Pelley and his members, a lot of governments and different regulations to deal with.

The post European Tour replaces dropped tournament with Austrian Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

1. Lee Westwood In Abu Dhabi

Ahhh, January. Remember how easy life was way back then. Lee Westwood made golf look simple too, most of the time anyway, en-route to a 25th European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to become just the third player to win on tour in four decades after Mark McNulty and Des Smyth. Lucas Herbert’s playoff win in Dubai was dramatic, Graeme McDowell’s Saudi triumph rather romantic. But Westwood’s lesson in longevity won Abu Dhabi the Desert Swing. We wonder now what Westy’s defence will look like.

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2. Great To Be Back

Four months after the season was suspended in Qatar, the European Tour returned to action at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg near Vienna. It has been a fraught wait and the Austrian Open rather fitting crowned Marc Warren champion. It was a fourth European Tour title after the sweet-swinging Scot’s own long wait – six years – since his previous win.

It was low key but absolutely brilliant to be back.

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3. The UK Swing

The European Tour went back to its roots with a hastily-arranged, six-event UK Swing that was an unexpected bonus for lovers of “traditional” golf. The geographically-clustered swing was, as CEO Keith Pelley sign-posted at the time, a “glimpse into the future” and we are down with that. If we had one wish for the future it would be the promotion of courses like Sunningdale in the magical Surrey/Berkshire sand-belt. Wishful thinking maybe but hey, who would have thought a few months ago that a face mask would be an essential piece of golfing kit? If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s how we suddenly treasure the pleasures of great things from our past.

Sam Horsefield galloped away with a pair of UK Swing wins but for us it was Rasmus Højgaard’s triumph at the ISPS Handa UK Championship (pictured) that got us all emotional. More specifically it was the return to the Brabazon course at the Belfry that had us romanticising glories of Ryder Cups past. Sure, time and technology has moved on but here was proof why we shouldn’t totally dismiss tradition.

We’ve had a soft spot for Andy Sullivan ever since the genial Englishman won a space flight as a hole-in-one prize at the 2014 KLM Open and promptly turned it down.  “I’m thinking, if anything happens to the pilot, I’m in charge and that’s not a position I want to be in. So I’ve put the mother-in-law up for that one,” Sullivan joked in a Golf Channel interview two years later. We loved Sully’s seven-stroke win at Hanbury Manor and didn’t his post-victory video link-up with the family after the English Championship epitomise how even celebrating has changed in the era of COVID. The laughter, and tears, flowed after a near-five year wait for his fourth European Tour title. “It was just the people that have missed this win, my brother-in-law was only 24 and he was taken from us. so it’s quite emotional for him not to witness it. It means quite a lot for me to do it for him today, and a good friend of mine has passed as well. It’s nice for my family, to win for my little boy who is only two years old, it’s just nice for him to see Daddy being successful.” How cool is golf.

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Englishman Garrick Porteous hits from the hay on the 16th hole during the final round of the Scottish Championship presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews

4. The Home Of Golf

With the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship canned, it was a bonus to return to St. Andrews for some links luvviness at the  new Scottish Championship presented by AXA – especially as we’d been robbed of the season’s ultimate (links) highlight, the 149th Open at Royal St. George’s. It was doubly sweet that Adrian Otaegui, with his Dubai-links, won on the Fairmont course. With that said, here’s a memo to Keith Pelley rescheduling, along the line of our earlier Sunningdale plea: How about events at gems old and new like Royal Dornock, Cruden Bay, Nairn, Western Giles, Machrihanish and North Berwick? If you really want to appeal to the purist, head back to Prestwick. We know, we know, the original home of the Open would be embarrassed by today’s big-boofers. But would it really if the weather gods were alerted? Hey, it’s been a tough year. Let us dream on.

Adrian Otaegui (Spain) tees off on the 14th hole en-route to victory

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5. Golf In Dubai Championship

We’ve loved some of the new destinations added to the reimagined Race to Dubai schedule, the double-header at Aphrodite Hills with those breath-taking Cyprus vistas a fresh case-in-point. But for those of us who regularly golf the UAE, the exposé of Greg Norman’s Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates will be a special treat. More than a few believe it is a stronger design than Earth. Whatever your opinion, the 11-days at JGE culminating in the DP World Tour Championship are sure to provide a dramatic ending to this unthinkable year, a European Tour season that hasn’t turned out so bad after all.

The post Five reasons why the COVID-complicated European Tour season wasn’t so bad after all appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Yep, that’s me on the right with a couple co-workers at Pine Valley. Ever heard of it? Actually, my wife hadn’t when I told her about the invite, but luckily, I was able to whip out Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Courses list and show her that it’s No. 1. Ahead of Augusta National—which she had heard of—thus, granting me the right to leave her at eight months pregnant and with our lively two-year-old for the day. And to think, some people say those kinds of rankings don’t matter. Anyway, I won’t go shot-by-shot of my round because I don’t want to bore you. And because it was a LOT of shots. The important thing is that we had a great day, and I refrained from cleaning out the pro shop like J.R. Smith. OK, back to real life now.

WE’RE BUYING

Collin Morikawa: What. A. Stud. After losing a playoff at Colonial and having his cut streak snapped at the Travelers, the 23-year-old bounced back to win his second PGA Tour title in less than 12 months at the Workday Charity Open. And although he didn’t have Jack Nicklaus waiting for him on Muirfield’s 18th green, he happily settled for a particularly delicious victory milkshake:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCjmctcFidb/?utm_source=ig_embed

Morikawa now has more wins on tour than missed cuts. Pretty amazing. Although, not as amazing as the fact that Tiger Woods won 43(!) times before missing his second cut. Sorry, Collin, but any young golfer having success has to be compared to Tiger. It’s written in the Golf Twitter Constitution. But seriously, the dude should be proud to be a part of such conversations. And when he sees Woods this week, he can tell him he passed him in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Tony Finau: Big Tone was not at Muirfield Village—good news for the milkshake makers there—but he still managed to draw the golf world’s attention, first by firing a course-record 59 at Victory Ranch:

My 2nd ever sub 60 round today at @VictoryRanchUT ?
59!! 3 shots better than my course record of 62 ?? pic.twitter.com/Wblv7ysykY

— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) July 11, 2020

And then, after being inspired by Bryson DeChambeau to grip it and rip it even harder, showing off a 206-mph ball speed:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgVyy6JBGq/?utm_source=ig_embed

Uh-oh. Bryson really started a movement, didn’t he?

Mardy Fish: There’s a different kind of movement in the upper echelon of celebrity golf as the former tennis pro won the American Century Championship for the first time. Fish reeled in the Super Bowl of celebrity golf by overcoming a couple ex-NFL players, 300-pound(!) Kyle Williams, who finished runner-up, and two-time defending champ Tony Romo, who was in fourth place before withdrawing ahead of the final round with a wrist injury.

Christian Petersen

Sorry, Tony, but Mardy is the new King of Celebrity Golf for now after a performance that included a 10-birdie(!) 63 to break the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course record. TEN birdies! In one round! By a tennis player! I’m taking this guy’s athletic résumé over Roger Federer’s any day of the week.

WE’RE SELLING

Justin Thomas’ finish: He’s great, he’s young, and he’ll bounce back, but this one had to sting JT. First, he blew a three-shot lead with three to play and then he had a 13th PGA Tour title taken from him after he made what looked like the winning birdie on the first playoff hole.

5⃣0⃣ FEET!@JustinThomas34 with an UNBELIEVABLE birdie on the first playoff hole.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/T6iuNZrcxH

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

Before Morikawa answered with this:

WOW.@Collin_Morikawa with a MUST-MAKE putt to extend the playoff.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/RSYdWRI1sA

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

Even with the loss, Thomas is a strong 8-of-13 at closing out 54-hole leads. And at least he can say he lost one heckuva duel to another young star. Not that anyone could watch it on TV. . .

TV contracts: Look, we know this is a business and there were reasons why neither Golf Channel nor CBS showed the conclusion of this thrilling tournament live after final-round tee times were moved up due to bad weather, but c’mon. We’ve been saying for weeks how this is golf’s big chance to seize the sports stage and I had friends texting me why it wasn’t on TV. Sure, you could stream it once you found the link, but that’s a lot of effort for a casual fan to go through and this wound up being a big missed opportunity to generate buzz for the sport. A better system needs to be figured out. Period.

Caddies: We’ve seen golfers win at the highest levels with WAGs or friends filling in, but how about a tour pro winning without a caddie at all? Such was the case at the Austrian Open, where Marc Warren pulled off the victory while lugging his own bag around after his caddie failed a COVID-19 test earlier in the week. Although Warren was quick to say he missed having someone on the bag, the unusual circumstance did produce his first European Tour win in six years and meant he didn’t have to share 10 percent of the winner’s check. Plus, the 39-year-old also got some great exercise in. I know I’m going to get heat for this, but. . . Just saying. . .

Stuart Franklin

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to stays in Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament, AKA that event played at Muirfield Village in which Jack Nicklaus actually plays host. It also happens to mark the PGA Tour return of Tiger Woods, who hasn’t played competitively in more than five months. Well, unless you count The Match. Speaking of the field:

?Stat of the week:

The 2020 @MemorialGolf SoF is set to break many #OWGR era records. As it looks now, this will be:

– strongest regular @PGATOUR event ever
– 1st regular PGA Tour event with SoF > 800
– stronger than any Playoff event ever
– stronger than the last 8 Masters pic.twitter.com/btBDoZrPsX

— Nosferatu (@VC606) July 13, 2020

Wow. This is major. Even though it technically isn’t.

Random tournament fact: Most golf fans know Woods has won the Memorial a record five times, but the person with the second-most wins at Muirfield Village? Kenny Perry. Thank you, Wikipedia.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Bryson DeChambeau will treat himself to a victory milkshake: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Tiger will win this week: 25-to-1 odds
—Tiger is not happy about having the same odds as Hideki Matsuyama: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

No one documents the end of PGA Tour events better than Rickie Fowler.

Gregory Shamus

We appreciate the effort, Rick—especially because, again, we weren’t seeing anything on TV.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Finau’s 206-mph ball speed was impressive, but Bryson went back to the LAB and produced a 144-mph swing speed:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCheVzjjLMi/?utm_source=ig_embed

My. Word.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PRO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Last week, the talented Sam Harrop performed his latest parody song in honour of Ben An:

Here's my latest golf song – with credit, of course, to the Beatles.

I think we all know @ByeongHunAn is one of the good guys. So if you happen to see this, Ben, please know that it comes from a place of love!

RTs & YouTube subscribes (https://t.co/gumjIjqmhy) appreciated ? pic.twitter.com/rikpiMAEE9

— Sam Harrop (@sam_golf) July 6, 2020

This week, the good-natured An responded by stamping some of the lyrics on his wedge:

I had to do this for you @sam_golf ??? pic.twitter.com/brLtCjjd3v

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) July 7, 2020

Social media certainly has its negatives, but stories like this are awesome. But seriously, Ben, if I keep betting on you, can you pick up the putting a little? Thanks.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’m never coming in last place again. You can take that to the bank. I’m never coming in last place again. Ever! Ever! Ever! Guaranteed!” —Charles Barkley before finishing in second-to-last place at Lake Tahoe. Good for you, Chuck. Eddie George must be unspeakably bad at golf.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS NOT NAMED MARDY FISH OR CHARLES BARKLEY

Trevor Lawrence played golf! Well, tried to play golf. It’s tough when you’re built like a Greek God and golf clubs snap on you like this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CClh0XZBlDi/?utm_source=ig_embed

Of course, after seeing the money Patrick Mahomes just got, it’s tough to feel bad for a star quarterback. That is, if football ever returns.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

At a quick glance, Phil Mickelson shooting even par for the week and finishing T-58 seems rather boring. Wrong! Phil drove a green in spectacular fashion:

? @PhilMickelson just hit his tee shot to 9 feet.

On a par 4. ?#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/ipBk9TwoF0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 10, 2020

Showed off some shades from his forthcoming “HIT BOMBS” apparel line:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgc2ztDuDJ/?utm_source=ig_embed

And gave us arguably the golf GIF of the year:

Make an eagle. ?

Get your coffee back. pic.twitter.com/dFacVEFMqb

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 10, 2020

Nothing is ever boring with this guy.

THIS WEEK IN BROOKS BEING BROOKS

We need to start a new weekly category, because nothing is boring with this guy, either. First, he posts this, um, interesting GIF:

pic.twitter.com/DTjuc48hFp

— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) July 7, 2020

Then, after being called “completely unprofessional” by Golf Channel’s Paige Mackenzie for what seemed like a cryptic dig at Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks took aim at Paige:

So that’s Bryson, Brandel, and Paige. And counting. Keep the feuds coming, Brooks!

THIS AND THAT

Viktor Hovland became the first player in the Shot Link Era (2004) to lead the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green in three consecutive events. Considering he didn’t win any of those weeks, it’s pretty easy to guess the part of his game that’s holding him back. . . . The PGA Tour Playoffs will be held without fans. This was the least surprising news of the week. . . . David Lipsky, who like Collin Morikawa attended L.A.’s La Canada High School, won his first Korn Ferry Tour title. Their high school is better than my high school at golf. . . . And finally, shout-out to the in-laws for hooking me up with some of my favorite BBQ sauce:

Sonny’s is the GOAT.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why isn’t there a Sonny’s closer to where I live?
Why didn’t the PGA Tour pair Brooks and Bryson together?
Is anyone looking for a fourth at Pine Valley this weekend?

The post Celebrity golf’s newest king, Brooks Koepka’s latest feud, and a tour pro wins without a caddie appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
There have been more than a few good things in the professional life of Marc Warren.

As far back as 2001, the now-39-year old Scot—part of a team that included Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell—holed the putt that won the Walker Cup for Great Britain & Ireland at Sea Island in Georgia.

Four years later, Warren’s beautifully rhythmic full swing carried him to the top of the rankings on the European Challenge Tour. Twelve months after that, he was Rookie of the Year on the European Tour, having won the Scandinavian Masters en route. In 2007, he was victorious again in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, a triumph that went a long way towards him qualifying for the two-man team that would represent Scotland in the World Cup. Alongside Colin Montgomerie, Warren won there, too, beating the United States in a playoff at Mission Hills in California.

All of which is pretty good you might think, especially when you throw in a third European Tour win at the 2014 Made in Denmark. But Warren has endured almost as many “downs” as “ups” in his 18-year pro career. Many opportunities have been spurned, most notably at the 2012 Scottish Open. One stroke clear with four holes to play at Castle Stuart, Warren dropped four shots over the closing holes to finish one shot out of the playoff between eventual champion Jeev Milkha Singh and Francesco Molinari.

Still, none of the above will surely matter too much now to the former World Boys champion. Not now that he has recorded his fourth tournament victory on the Old World Circuit. Having lost his European Tour card in each of the last two years—he finished 130th on the Race to Dubai in 2018, 205th last year—Warren is exempt for at least the rest of this season and all of next, courtesy of victory in the Austrian Open, which was co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour.

That fact was soon reflected in tweets from two former Ryder Cup captains. “He’s back,” wrote Thomas Bjorn. “Never say die,” was the tribute from Warren’s fellow-Scot, Sam Torrance.

It was an odd week in other ways, too, in what was perhaps a glimpse into a more impecunious—the total prize fund was a “mere” €500,000—and “new-normal” post-coronavirus future for professional golf in Europe. Many players, Warren included, were carrying their own bags. Every player was marking his own card. Only one caddie was touching the pin on each green. All very new on a circuit that was playing for the first time since the Qatar Masters in early March.

Anyway, with an erratic final round of 70 over the Diamond Country Club just outside Vienna—one that contained four bogeys—Warren made two of his six birdies in the last four holes to reach 13 under par and pick up the first-place check of €76,823. Germany’s Marcel Schneider was second, one shot back, with Will Besseling of the Netherlands next with an 11 under on the card. Two of Warren’s young compatriots, Connor Syme and Craig Howie, were among a four-strong group in a tie for fourth place.

“This is massive,” said Warren. “A few hours ago, I didn’t have full status. Now I’m in a winner’s category and can plan the year. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing, trying to hit one shape all the time and when I do play try and do that and try not to mess about too much.

“The last few weeks I’ve been able to get some good work done and get ready to play golf. Came out of it pretty refreshed. Carrying my bag this week probably helped tone it down a little, just going out and playing and seeing what happens. The result couldn’t have been any better.”

A little farther down the leaderboard, halfway leader Miguel Angel Jimenez’s quest to break his own record as the oldest-ever winner on the European Tour ended in a T-8 finish, five shots behind the champion. The 56-year old Spaniard matched Warren’s closing 70, but was undone 24 hours earlier by a third round of 77.

The post Veteran Scot Marc Warren brightens his future with Austrian Open win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
It seems Callum Shinkwin is slowly coming to grips with this desert golf lark.

The 25-year-old Englishman will tee it up in his third Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday after winning medalist honours in the European Tour event’s new qualifying tournament at Dubai Hills Golf Club on Monday – a week after achieving the same feat in Abu Dhabi.

Shinkwin backed up a course record 64 at Dubai’s newest course on Sunday with a 68 on Monday to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic Shootout with an impressive -12 total. The Heartfordshire pro edged French Challenge Tour regular Victor Rui (67-66) by a stroke while three-time European Tour winner Marc Warren (65-69) was third on -10 to claim the final spot in the Desert Classic’s 30th anniversary edition at Emirates Golf Club.

“To qualify for tournaments is great, and even better when you win them,” said Shinkwin who is making a decent early fist of regaining his European Tour card after finishing a lowly 119th in last year’s Race to Dubai – three spots shy of retaining his playing privileges.

Our guest of honour, @WestwoodLee, hands over the invites to @OMEGAGolfDubai Desert Classic to @CallumShinkwin, @MarcWarrenGolf and Victor Riu. All the best guys!! pic.twitter.com/yH07E0uU1T

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 21, 2019

Shinkwin is no stranger to Middle East golf but has taken time to learn the subtleties of desert golf.

The 2013 English Amateur champion has played the past two Desert Classics and missed the cut both times. He kicked on from winning the 54-hole Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship qualifier with a T-54 placing at Abu Dhabi Golf Club last week, finishing 15 shots behind winner Shane Lowry for an €18,845 payday. But he still only has a 50 percent cuts made success rate in four starts in Abu Dhabi.

England’s @CallumShinkwin wins a second straight qualifying tournament in the Middle East to book his place at the @OMEGAGolfDubai Desert Classic alongside @MarcWarrenGolf and Victor Rui.

Report: https://t.co/ndm6ycYIS0 pic.twitter.com/EfOGMgg0f6

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 21, 2019

Shinkwin hopes his recent run of scoring – he signed for rounds of 71-68-73-73 in Abu Dhabi – will help him better his best score of 72 on the Majlis in last year’s second round to finally survive a weekend in Dubai.

“I have played the Omega Dubai Desert Classic a couple of times, but never did well there. I guess it was at the start of the season and I was not that prepared. But I have now played plenty of golf already and I am hoping to do much better this time around,” he said.

And this is what @CallumShinkwin had to say after winning the medalist honour at the @OMEGAGolfDubai Desert Classic Shootout at @DubaiHillsGolf today. pic.twitter.com/PZxByhepvq

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 21, 2019

Warren finished 130th in last year’s Race to Dubai, missing the cut on both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. But the 37-year-old Scot has smooth swing and a proven pedigree to take into what will be his 13th consecutive Desert Classic after taking a long gamble to qualify.

Want to know why @MarcWarrenGolf took the long, 5,800km flight from Glasgow to Dubai?

He had this to say after successfully completing his mission at the @OMEGAGolfDubai Desert Classic Shootout. pic.twitter.com/1OmCLPm1oR

— MENA Tour (@theMENATour) January 22, 2019

Josh Hill was the best of the teen amateurs at Dubai Hills with rounds of 76-72 for a four over total and a share of 45th place, two shots better than Trump Dubai club-mate Toby Bishop (75-75).

The post Shinkwin eyes first Desert Classic cut after back-to-back qualifying wins in Abu Dhabi and Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
England’s David Howell is the chairman of the European Tour’s tournament committee, having replaced Thomas Bjorn earlier this year as he focused on his European Ryder Cup captain’s duties. But that doesn’t mean he’s “above the law,” if you will. Playing in the second round of the HNA Open de France, Howell mistakenly showed up late to his tee time at Le Golf National outside Paris.

“I thought I was off at 7:40, not 7:30,” Howell said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever missed a tee time.”

The other two members of his group, Marc Warren and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, teed off without him. Howell caught up, but was accessed a two-stroke penalty. He would wind up with a double-bogey 6 on the 10th hole (his first), the beginning of a long day that included making eight bogeys and a triple bogey en route to him signing for a 10-over 81 and miss the cut by seven strokes.

To make matters worse, Howell is staying at the Novotel Hotel adjacent to the Albatros course.

“I was staying only 300 yards from the first tee. It’s not as if I got stuck in traffic,” he said.

The post Euro Tour’s tournament committee chair David Howell embarrassingly misses tee time at French Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Sir Nick Faldo pauses momentarily as he reflects on the 21st anniversary of his globe-trotting junior development series.

“It’s been quite a good journey, yeah,” the 60-year-old golfing knight turned commentary box royal says with a hearty dollop of English understatement.

The Faldo Junior Series has indeed come a long way – 40 events in 30 countries annually to be exact – since the six-time major champion created the non-profit organisation in 1996 to give back to a sport that has given him so much. Among the talented youngsters identified and nurtured along the way have been major champions Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng, plus tour winners Nick Dougherty, Oliver Fisher, Marc Warren, John Parry, Rashid Khan, Melissa Reid, Florentyna Parker and Carly Booth.

You can bet a handful of the 57 names on this week’s 21st Faldo Series European Grand Final leaderboard will emerge from Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club as future stars too after benefitting from the unique combination of tough tournament examinations and lashings of expert advice.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy poses with Nick Faldo after winning the U-17 division of the 2006 Faldo Junior Series at The Celtic Manor Resort on October 6, 2006.

From his home in Orlando, Faldo himself has come along way this week to host in Abu Dhabi. He’s brought sports psychologist Kjell Enhager with him, a man Faldo admits he could have done with during his playing days when he feared his mental fortitude might be exposed if he didn’t hide behind that famously aloof “blinkers on from the first tee to the 18th green” exterior.

“Kjell did a great presentation talking about the mind, how to visualise, how to make decisions, how to practice better, how to get yourself in the right mental state,” said Faldo. “It was a real good eye opener for them, they’re getting some good stuff from us.”

The learning, it seems, is a two-way thing.

“When we started [in 1996] you didn’t really appreciate all the differences but when you take European kids to say Asia and they get thrown in the deep end and suddenly they have to learn to play golf with an eight hour time change, different grass and you’re going to get sunburnt even when the sun doesn’t even come out, it’s a great learning experience.”

Faldo has been imparting his wisdom too, playing nine practice holes Sunday with some of the starry-eyed youngsters before holding a clinic for AESGC members on Monday morning as the talented teens from Europe, Asia and the UAE [Reema Al Heloo and Rashed Al Emadi] set off on their 54-hole odyssey.

A separate clinic for the players was planned for Monday afternoon and typical of his playing days, Faldo has come prepared, as much as his busy television commitments allow anyway.

“I always come in with some kind of theme to try and give the kids a bit of insight into what and how top sportsmen think, act and react, and how they can test themselves,” Faldo said

Asked for this weeks theme, the serial swing tinkerer of old emerges and makes for a fascinating listen.

“It’s funny I’ve been practicing and I always talk about my ‘four swing”, I mean I had one backswing and four different follow throughs to hit different shots,” says Faldo, clearly just warming up.

“When you play less you go right to what has to happen, the absolute musts, so if you’re trying to hit the ball high, what do you have to do to make it happen, how do you release the club? If you want to hit it low, if you want to hit a fade, hit a draw…and I’ve been doing that myself from the same stance basically, and then you learn to make minute differences and how to feel the differences and then what happens when you make the differences.

“You know, if you make some kind of difference in your swing, where does the golf ball go and if it goes consistently in a certain direction, can you use that as a positive, in a way to use it on the golf course?”

Just as he’s making a huge difference to the careers of all those involved at Al Ain this week, so too is Faldo playing the mutual appreciation game.

“It’s great, a great spot,” the CBS analyst says of AESGC . “Obviously this time of year its perfect. To try and go as late as possible in the season as we do, I mean you struggle in central Europe, it’s too cold. We’ve been to Loch Lomond where it’s blowing 40 miles an hour and it’s 40°f  (5°c), it snowed in the Greenbrier and well, they’ve got a treat here. They’re in nice breezy conditions in the low 80s (27°c), it’s going to be a good test for them.”

Faldo holds court at Monday’s AESGC members’ clinic.

The first day scoring showed many are up to the test with England’s Charlie Salter and Australian Daniel Gale leading the way with four under 66s. In all, 11 players bettered par.

With the backing of the R&A, World Amateur Golf Ranking points and trips to next year’s Asia Grand Final – Faldo will invite three boys and two girls to the event at his Faldo Design course in Vietnam, Laguna Lang Co, in March – on the line, there is still much to play for.

Regardless of the scoring this week, the chance to glean tips of the trade from Europe’s most majored golfer is a priceless opportunity. The journey – for both Faldo and his juniors – continues.

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Still, the 43-year-old Englishman will need to re-write history if he is to is to kick-on from his fine opening 66 around Earth on Thursday and join Rory McIlroy (2012 and 2015 ) and Henrik Stenson (2013 and 2014) as a two-time champion at Jumeirah Golf Estates (JGE).

No winner has ever gone wire-to-wire on Earth but Westwood’s seven birdies and eventual signature on a six-under round hints at a serious 2016 title tilt from the inaugural Race to Dubai champion.

“This is as good as I’ve played for quite some time,” said Westwood whose 66 matched his opening round in 2009 when he went on to win by six but remains two strokes shy of the best Thursday score at the DP World Championship, a sizzling 64 carded by Swede Peter Hanson  in 2011.

“I’ve found a couple of keys in different parts of my game and I’ve been working in them hard. It all came together today. 66 is a good round of golf… [it] didn’t seem that easy out there.”

Care to elaborate on the little triggers you’ve found in the last week or so Lee, the tweaks that have you in pole position for a $1.3 million pay day?

“Not really,” said Westwood who went 0-3 in Europe’s 11-17 Ryder Cup reverse at Hazeltine National in October and has enjoyed just one top 10 on each side of the Atlantic Ocean in 2016, a runner-up finish to Danny Willett at the US Masters and third at the British Masters.

“I don’t particularly want to go into it. I’ve been working with a few different people and I’ve been getting clear ideas of what I need to do and I’m doing those and working on them.”

Westwood is also having to work doubly hard at JGE with regular bagman Billy Foster icing his dodgy knees back in England. Foster will be back after treatment for the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in late January but for now Westwood is learning to trust Ken Herring, normally the bag man for Scotsman Marc Warren.

“Yeah, I probably have to do more, think a little bit more. Billy normally thinks for me which is probably a good thing,” said Westwood who tees it up at 12.50pm (UAE time) Friday with Frenchman Julien Quesne who was a shot back in a share of second place overnight alongside big hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.

“Obviously a different caddy doesn’t know my game. He’s only had one round on the bag and that was in the Pro-Am on Tuesday and I wasn’t particularly sharp then.

“He’s sort of making it up as he goes along. I have full confidence in him and his yardages and the way he reads the wind and stuff like that. [I just] put my game to his information.”

Herring will be keen to keep the chemistry going for the next 54 holes but not as much as Westwood who hasn’t won on the European Tour since the 2014 Malaysian Open and has to go back to April last year for his last title, the Indonesian Masters. – Kent Gray

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